Felton and Watson first met in 1999 at auditions for the first Harry Potter film (released in 2001) and have remained good friends since – that’s more than two decades and counting. Despite the rumours and even Dramione fan fiction written by fans from all over the world, the two maintain that they’re just friends – soul mates, in fact, Watson has said – but have never dated. Still, fans can’t get enough of the sweet words they always have for each other.

Here, we take a look back at their decades-long relationship.

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Emma Watson admitted that Tom Felton was her first crush

During the first two Harry Potter films, Watson “had a huge crush on Tom Felton”, the actress once admitted to Seventeen. The feeling wasn’t mutual, according to Felton, but Watson told the same magazine that Felton knew, and that they’ve since talked and laughed about it.

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In 2018, Watson posted a photo of herself with Felton at the beach as well as a video of her wearing a backwards baseball cap, clinging onto the actor as they both stood on the same skateboard.

Elle magazine recently reminded Dramione fans that, during one of the young cast’s tutoring sessions when they were filming Harry Potter, the young teens were asked to draw what they thought God looked like. Watson recalled Felton drawing a girl with a backwards cap and a skateboard, saying that was the moment she “just fell in love with him”.

In response to fans’ reactions to their post from 2018, Felton later told Us Weekly that he and Watson hang out frequently, they just seldom post about it on Instagram. “I always enjoy spending time with her,” the actor said.

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In his memoir, Felton admitted to having “a secret love for Emma”

Now, British media has posted excerpts from Felton’s new book, in which he admits: “I’ve always had a secret love for Emma, though not perhaps in the way that people might want to hear. That isn’t to say that there’s never been a spark between us. There most definitely has, only at different times”.

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Felton also used the somewhat clichéd line, “I love her like a sister” to describe his feelings for Watson when he was still in his teens, but admitted his girlfriend back then thought that there was more to it than that. Felton also referred to himself and Watson as “kindred spirits” in the book, saying he knows that they always have each other’s backs.

Watson wrote a gushing foreword for Felton’s memoir

To this day, the two actors continue to share affectionate words for each other in public. In the foreword for Beyond the Wand, Watson tried to explain her relationship with Felton. “It’s one of the purest loves I can think of,” she wrote. She ended the dedication by writing, “The world is lucky to have you, but I’m even luckier to have you as my friend.”